Skilling wraps up testimony; Lay next

HOUSTON — Former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling ended lengthy testimony in his federal fraud trial Thursday by denying a new government accusation — that he may have cheated on his taxes.

Skilling calmly said he didn’t recall backdating a $10,000 gift check to an ex-girlfriend to avoid paying taxes on it in 1998, and he told jurors that he has heard nothing from the Internal Revenue Service despite repeated reviews of his tax returns.

“I paid my taxes,” he testified — more than $66 million from 1997 through 2004.

Skilling’s co-defendant, Enron founder Kenneth Lay, will take the witness stand Monday after another witness testifies briefly on Skilling’s behalf.

He repeatedly denied during 7 1/2 days of testimony that he lied to investors about Enron’s financial strength or approved accounting tricks to meet earnings targets and impress Wall Street in the years before the company spiraled into bankruptcy proceedings in December 2001.

Skilling, 52, also acknowledged his anger at the government for pegging him as a liar and a crook, and often struggled to keep his temper in check when grilled by prosecutor Sean Berkowitz.

For more than two months when prosecutors presented their case, Skilling’s lawyers assailed most government witnesses for lacking hard evidence in accusing the ex-CEO of fraud. But Skilling’s testimony, which came in the defense case, has also lacked notes, e-mails or other tangible proof to corroborate his assertions that the witnesses lied or misconstrued situations to be illegal.

Brian Wice, a Houston defense attorney who has observed much of the trial, said the government threw no knockout punches at Skilling in its examination of him, and whether Skilling is convicted on all or some criminal counts depends on whom the jurors believe.

An admittedly exhausted Skilling said outside of court: “You can never say everything you want to say. I feel I had a fair opportunity to explain a lot of the questions.”

Lay, 64, praised his co-defendant’s efforts.

“He did great,” Lay said. When asked if he was prepared for his turn, he replied, “Oh, yeah. Ready.”

Skilling is charged with 28 criminal counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors from 1999 through 2001. Lay faces six counts of fraud and conspiracy from the period after Skilling abruptly resigned from Enron in mid-August 2001 until the company filed for bankruptcy protection four months later.